Thierry Desmarest, former CEO of Total, is dead

The former boss of Total Thierry Desmarest died on Wednesday January 10, at the age of 78, announced the TotalEnergies group, confirming information from World. He chaired the oil company from 1995 to 2010 then interim in 2014 upon the death of Christophe de Margerie. Thierry Desmarest had been suffering from Alzheimer’s disease for around ten years, according to The world.

Despite his success in raising Total, now TotalEnergies, among the five oil majors, he saw his image tarnished by his management of the sinking of the Erika off the coast of Brittany, and the oil spill which followed in December 1999, as well as by the explosion of the AZF chemical factory on September 21, 2001 in Toulouse. He was particularly criticized for his technocratic cold reaction to emotion. The explosion killed 30 people and destroyed or damaged nearly 30,000 buildings.